University of Maine
UMBC
Accurate Shooting in Second Half Propels UMBC Over Maine Hoops, 76-59
1/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BANGOR, Maine — Kevin Little matched a career-high in points with 15, but the Black Bears struggled on the defensive end as UMBC defeated Maine men's basketball, 76-59 at the Cross Insurance Center on Thursday night. With the loss the Black Bears drop to 1-18 and 0-6 in America East play while the Retrievers improved to 3-16 and 1-5 in conference.
UMBC shot 16-of-20 in the final frame, shooting 80 percent and finished the game having shot 52.9 percent. The Black Bears didn't match the accuracy as it shot 35 percent for the game and shot 11-of-29 in the final frame.
Cody Joyce scored 28 points for the Retrievers as he led the charge along with freshman Jourdan Grant chipping in 18.
Little's 15 paced Maine's offense with Zarko Valjarevic's 14 points the next highest for the Black Bears.
UMBC also won the battle of the glass as the squad took down 38 rebounds while Maine managed just 28.
The first half featured a heavy dose of back and forth action with six ties and five lead changes. UMBC was able to build an early four-point edge, 4:42 into the first half.
Maine responded with a 7-2 run to put the Black Bears back on top. Back-to-back layups from Little and Till Gloger began the sprint before a 3-pointer from Valjarevic gave Maine a one-point edge with 12:23 to play in the half.
With the game once again tied at the 9:58 mark, the Black Bears were able to put together a 6-1 run on 3-point field goals by Valjarevic and Little, giving Maine its largest lead of the half, 19-15.
The Black Bears hung on with a two-point advantage with 5:24 remaining but UMBC closed the opening half with a 9-2 run to take a 28-23 lead into the break.
Maine came out of halftime and staged a 4-0 run to chip the Retrievers' lead down to just one, 1:31 into the second half.
UMBC was able to hang on to the Maine charge and add to its lead which reached nine on a Jourdan Grant 3-pointer with 12:03 left in regulation.
Little's 3-pointer brought Maine back within seven but an 8-0 run by the Retrievers built their lead up to its largest to that point, 57-42.
Thanks to Shaun Lawton and Aaron Calixte's combined five points the Black Bears cut the lead to single digits, down 57-49 with 4:38 left in the half.
UMBC took off from there outscoring the Black Bears 19-10 the rest of the way as Maine recorded its 18th loss of the year, 76-59.
The Black Bears will take to the road for a contest at Hartford on Sunday at 2 p.m.
